Malachi 3:3 "And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.

3. sit--The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his
eye on the metal, and taking care that the fire be not too hot, and
keeping the metal in, only until he knows the dross to be completely
removed by his seeing his own image reflected
(Ro 8:29)
in the glowing mass. So the Lord in the case of His elect
(Job 23:10;
Ps 66:10;
Pr 17:3;
Isa 48:10;
Heb 12:10;
1Pe 1:7).
He will sit down to the work, not perfunctorily, but with
patient love and unflinching justice. The Angel of the Covenant, as in
leading His people out of Egypt by the pillar of cloud and fire, has an
aspect of terror to His foes, of love to His friends. The same
separating process goes on in the world as in each Christian. When the
godly are completely separated from the ungodly, the world will end.
When the dross is taken from the gold of the Christian, he will be for
ever delivered from the furnace of trial. The purer the gold, the
hotter the fire now; the whiter the garment, the harder the washing
[MOORE].
purify . . . sons of Levi--of the sins specified above. The very
Levites, the ministers of God, then needed cleansing, so universal was
the depravity.
that they may offer . . . in righteousness--as originally
(Mal 2:6),
not as latterly
(Mal 1:7-14).
So believers, the spiritual priesthood
(1Pe 2:5).

Malachi
3:1 - Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Malachi
4:5-6 - Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
the earth with a curse.

Malachi prophesied
sometime near the end of the fifth century BC during the time
with the Persian Empire ruled the world. The Temple in Jerusalem
was rebuilt and many Jews had returned to the land of Israel but
they had neglected the things of God. They were skimping on
their sacrifices and failing to give their tithes, and the
priests of God did nothing to encourage them. There were mixed
marriages and divorce had become a common practice, and Malachi
came to stir the people up. He told them not to neglect the
things of God if they ever expect to prosper, and they need to
repent right now in order for God to bless them. Malachi also
speaks of the coming day of the Lord, but the prophet Elijah
would come first, he will be a forerunner to the Messiah and
then the Messiah would come. In the New Testament Elijah is
identified as John the Baptist who was the forerunner for Jesus
Christ (Matthew 3:1-12 and Matthew 11:14). The Book of Malachi
closes the Old Testament and there was not another prophet in
the land of Israel for nearly 400 years until John the Baptist
came preaching in the wilderness.

The exact time in which the prophet Malachi began his
ministry's uncertain, but from his references to the Temple and
the priests it it is safe to say that it was after the return of
the Jews from captivity and after the Temple had been rebuilt.
There is nothing else known Malachi other than the words that he
wrote in this book. The Jews have returned from captivity, they
became lazy in the things of God and the Prophets Haggai and
Zechariah stirred them up and they rebuilt the Temple and the
wall of Jerusalem was restored. But the people were still
forgetful of God and his promises, they lost the enthusiasm
about all the glorious things that God had promised he was going
to do and then they became skeptical and they neglected their
spiritual duties. they were offering him perfect sacrifices and
failed to give tithes to God. The priests were unconcerned and
did nothing to encourage the people. there were mixed marriages
with foreigners and divorce had become common. Soon there were
more problems in the land, there was drought, and crop failure,
there was opposition from various enemies and life had become
exceedingly more difficult.

The heart of Malachi's prophecy was to drive home the point
that God loves them, but they need to remember his commandments
if they were ever going to prosper. If they would repent God
will bless them. Then Malachi reminds them of the coming Day of
the Lord, which will be introduced by a forerunner and afterward
the Messiah, the Lord will suddenly come to his Temple.

"Behold, I send My messenger, and he will
prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will
suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant,
in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of
hosts. Malachi 3:1

The book of Malachi closes the ministry of the prophets. The
religious leaders, priests and scribes, became more zealous for
expounding on the word of God, so much so that by the time of
Christ their commentaries and traditions had prevented them from
seeing the promises of God happening before their very eyes.
John the Baptist came as the fulfillment of the prophecy about
Elijah preparing the way for the Messiah. Then the Messiah, God
himself came to His Temple veiled in human flesh and only a
select few were there to worship Him. He entered the Eastern
Gate of the Temple on a donkey, as prophesied by Zechariah, and
the Jewish leaders were jealous of Him and put Him to death, but
death could not hold Him and He rose again and is Savior to all
who receive Him.

"Behold He is Coming"

Malachi's famous words "behold He is coming" is the prophetic
cry that began in the first book of the Bible, and the message
continued all the way to the end. God is faithful to his
promises and this is what the prophets declared.

Outline of the Book of Malachi

Malachi 1:1-2 God's declaration of His love for Israel

Malachi 1:3-5 God's hatred for Esau and the Edomites

Malachi 1:6-14 The unrepentant priests

Malachi 2:1-9 God's punishment on the unrepentant priests

Malachi 2:10-16 First oracle against the people

Malachi 2:17 Second oracle against the people

Malachi 3:1-6 The prophecy of the Messiah and His forerunner

Malachi 3:7-12 Third Oracle: The people's sin of robbing God

Malachi 3:13-4:3 Fourth Oracle: The people's sin of speaking
against the Lord

Many Thanks to The British Museum, The Louvre, The Oriental Institute, Dr. Amihai Mazar, Dr. Dan Bahat, Dr. Craig Johnson, Yaacov Kuc, Chuck Smith, Jim Darden, Ron Haaland, The Translators of the KJV, and many others including Jesus, the Word of God.